Part 1 of Tax Battle Done, Longer War Ahead: There was no grand bargain in Washington over the New Year holiday, and that means more political rumble for weeks to come. Farm programs mostly have a reprieve until 30 September, and cellulosic and biodiesel tax credits (2012 and 2013) were extended, but other novel areas of farm policy (energy, organic assistance, etc.) were made subject to the budget/appropriations process. Indeed, $110 billion in sequestered FY 2013 spending, the debt ceiling expansion and many other funding issues await a showdown two months from now. It is likely to be just as shrill in February 2013 as it was in December 2012 and in July 2011.Brazil has not said whether it will accept a nine-month delay by the U.S. in m...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. weather is getting more attention this week as conditions vary greatly across the western, central, and eastern corn belts, with the different regions battling dryness and too much rain simultaneously. The ProFarmer Crop Tour began today in Indiana and Nebrask...
Key Takeaways: Argentina is on pace for a record corn crop and record exports in the current marketing year, with abundant supplies likely to keep the country highly competitive in global export markets. Argentina’s record exportable surplus is allowing it to offer highly competitive pri...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.